Medicines for Neglected Diseases Workshop
10-11 September 2010
Boston University

Thank you very much to everyone who joined us, in person and via the web, for helping us make MeND2010 such a smashing success! We’d love to hear what you thought about the workshop: please take a moment to send us your feedback.

About the workshop

The great majority of humanity has yet to benefit from revolutionary advances in medical treatment, diagnosis, and prevention. People living in low- and middle-income countries face price barriers to medical technologies as well as a range of health systems problems. Research and development progress in disease areas that predominantly afflict the poor lags far behind R&D for diseases that burden the wealthy.

This is changing. There are major R&D efforts underway by research labs in many sectors into the few dozen highest-priority “Neglected Diseases.” There is unprecedented funding available. But with much yet to be done, there is extreme urgency for new diagnostics, therapeutics, and prevention measures to be developed for the benefit of the world’s poor.

Our Workshop is convened in the spirit of both optimism and urgency: to showcase the array of resources (funding, organizational and scientific) available for Neglected Diseases research and to develop new resources for the ND research community to ratchet up the pace and scope of discovery. All sectors will participate: academic scientists; clinicians and other front-line health workers; funders and funding experts; scientists and managers of biopharmaceutical companies, large and small; not-for-profit product development partnerships; students and other trainees who will become the next generation of leading researchers, developers and advocates.

A primary goal is to engage scientists who are established leaders and rising stars in a range of disciplines spanning chemistry and biology. Many in academia have opportunities to use their research to benefit people living in marginalized communities. The Workshop will showcase a range of opportunities for funding and high-quality scientific collaborations.

We focused on defined problems of interest to the biomedical research community committed to developing health technologies that can help to break the cycle of poverty for the billions living, for now, at the margins of global society. We thank you for joining us.